The Kingdom of Legend
by Shinymudkip25
Summary: A King and his Guard protect our peaceful world, keeping whatever threats there would be away. The Guard has never met the King, nor will they ever, but it is a King's job to be with his people. If the King is to fail and forget his responsibilities, the Guard will fall on its own and the world will not be the same. But there are some who despise the King to no end. BEING REVISED
1. Chapter 1

A setting sun let its brilliant colors radiate across the sky, casting an otherworldly glow over a large, empty field of small yellow flowers. It was there. It had to be there. From a distance, a young man no older than thirty stood on a large rock, staring at the field. The mountain he had been climbing on all day was not that far away from his intended destination. He had only taken a slight detour when he saw where it actually went. The man clenched his hands. _It must be there._

Without warning, the man began to leap down the face of the mountain. He was fast and precise with his movement, never putting a foot in the wrong place. If it wasn't there, then he would have to go back to the books again. He hated researching this kind of stuff, but he was getting paid well, so he might as well continue. As he reached the bottom of the mountain, his heartbeat quickened. He was wearing all black clothing and knew for a fact if this was the place, he'd be spotted in minutes. He had to wait until the sunlight was gone.

The man crouched down in the tall grass. When he had been standing the vegetation reached to about his chest. He would be safe for now as long as he didn't give himself away. For a while, he sat, contemplating his actions. No one was around. Why should he wait?

He flinched slightly as he heard a _crunch_ of grass near him. His ears were attuned to this sound, but it still scared him nonetheless. He soon began to hear a whisper from the same direction.

"Is this the place he intended for us to be?" Silence. "Well, speak up Dratini! He can't steal this alone!"

" _Sister, I am here. Be silent. We must not alert the enemy."_ Neither the man nor the other person had said a word, but they both heard the message.

"Brother?" the other whispered aloud. She quickly caught herself and replied using the same method her brother did. _"Where are you?"_

" _I am right beside you. We must get this over with now, so please tell your assistant to leave."_

" _Dratini? She is here to help. Like us, she has Dragon-type blood and can sense the seventeenth piece."_

" _I don't need a reminder. Get her to return to the castle before she gets injured!"_

There was a small sigh. _"Very well Brother. I'll get Estella to ferry her."_

The man almost laughed to himself. " _I don't think she'll like the short notice."_

" _I know, but it must be done."_ There was a small interlude between the communication of the two. The man assumed his sister had sent her personal aide away and moved ever so silently towards the center of the field.

" _Sister! Use your power before they spot us!"_ He called out to her in his mind, feeling like an idiot for not doing so before. Even when he had mastered the use of his power, the man was still slightly visible even when the sun was down. His sister however, she was the real problem. She could be seen more easily than him and therefore tracked. She would be a deadweight.

Suddenly, he felt his sister's presence almost disappear. She was still nearby though, he knew that much. The man quickly followed his sister's example by closing his eyes and focusing. And just like that, he was invisible. Simple, but the focus needed to hold the correct state of mind was difficult to have. It took the man years and years of training.

Once he could no longer be seen, the two pushed off and lunged forward, barely making the grass shift. The wind was almost being absorbed by the two. _"Sister, we need that piece, no matter what the cost. Do you understand what I'm saying?"_

" _Yes. I do."_ The unseen man and his younger sister were practically flying through the air towards the center of the field. The man's stomach was churning. After what Tia had told him would happen, he had been apprehensive and reluctant to even go on this expedition. He knew the pay would be worthless to him after today, but to know that the Guard would have the knowledge of what would happen…

Let's just say it would be worth it.

" _I feel dark energy."_ His sister's thoughts reached out to him, carrying her the sound of her voice laced with fear.

" _Do not worry Helena. You will make it- I'll protect you."_ The two continued soaring close to the ground. Suddenly, the man's invisible hand reached out as if to stop his sister.

A sole figure had appeared out of nowhere. As experienced as he was, the man had not been prepared for resistance. He knew the chances of finding opposition were high, but his fear had overtaken his quick and clever fighting state of mind. It just showed how much the enemy wanted to keep control of the future and how cocky they were. To believe that it took one of them to defeat two of the Chosen? It made the man angry.

"Why are you here?" the figure asked. Upon closer inspection, the man saw that the figure was female and young. She was maybe about his sister's age and had long, flowing white hair down to her ankles.

There was a long interlude of silence, only broken when the enemy repeated the question. Could she hear his breathing? His heartbeat? Or was it his sister's faint outline that gave them away?

"No answer? A pity." The girl slowly began walking over, her bare feet crushing the flowers beneath her. She was not afraid of these two. They were weak and easy to overpower. She stopped inches away from the other girl. "At least give me your names. I want to know who exactly it is I'm going to kill."

There was still no response. The girl sighed."It's really quite disappointing that I didn't have visitors that would put up a fight, but I understand." She paused. "If you are who I think you are, then you must be able to turn invisible. Maybe Meloetta? Victini? Wait- I know! Latias and Latios!"

There was a faint ripple in front of her. The smaller girl's invisible image was distorting. "Yes! I was right! Now then, I guess this is the end. You are the Chosen and I must eliminate you. But I get why you don't fight. You precious, favored scum don't take kindly to heroic deaths." Her voice changed from being higher and light to cruel and dark in a flash. "I wish you both a safe passage into Arceus' domain, Chosen successor of Latias, Chosen successor of Latios." And with a single swipe of her hand, both brother and sister fell, their invisible bodies becoming visible once more.

"How boring," the girl said with a yawn after a minute or two. "The Guard will have to do better next time. Who knows? Maybe next time I might even get to fight someone!" She looked down at the bodies of the two Chosen. "Tsk. What am I supposed to do with two of them? Killing people is so bothersome." And with that, she walked back to her hiding spot and waited for the next Chosen fool to come knocking.

"So you were stronger after all. That's good data that we can work with. Excellent job." A voice sounded behind the girl, making her jump a little. Not many could slip past her sense of vision. She recognized who it was rather quickly and turned around to see the one they called her twin sitting behind her.

"I am glad it proved to be sufficient," the first said. She was not expecting her "sister" to drop by.

"If all the Chosen you face are this weak, then we have no reason to keep looking for higher sources of energy and power. I think our employers will be most pleased." The second's voice was deeper and more prominent, but it lacked a sort of emotion that came from the first.

"Does that mean..?"

"Yes," the second said, "we will work only on refining the experiments. Until then, we can only hope that the Guard does not find ways of evolving."

The first inhaled sharply. "And if they do?"

The other simply smirked. "We won't give that scum any chance to. You need not worry."

* * *

"So this is him then? This boy is the next one for you?" A young man no older than twenty-two stood over a large glass dais. He was slightly surprised if anything. It had been sixty years since this woman had seen a new face in the disk, which had left her to her duties alone. But she had been growing old in her mortal age and it rendered her useless in the normal, undistorted dimension commonly known as the Surface. Here in the Reverse World, the woman's aging was slowed dramatically. It was the only thing that had kept her healthy and looking like she was in her late thirties.

"Yes, I believe so," the woman replied. She brushed some of her long red-orange hair out of her eyes. It astounded him to see that her eyes were on the verge of spilling over with tears. "It's abnormal, almost like I can call this boy my brother or son. He feels so familiar to me." She looked up at him from across the dais. He couldn't help but remember the sacrifices it was said to have taken to gain seventeen out of the eighteen pieces needed for this process.

Seventeen out of eighteen still wasn't as high a number as the Guard would have liked it though. It was far too low, and had what was major room for error. That error percentage of around six percent was most likely why the woman by the name Carolyn Medley had not been removed from the Guard yet. There had been too many unsuccessful candidates, many of which had traded their allegiance by now.

"Please Carolyn, I'm begging you to keep an open mind about this one. You've had several others before that evoked this same type of feeling. He may not have pure Chosen blood like you or I," the boy said. Suddenly, the image disappeared from the disk, leaving only reflections of the man and Carolyn. His jet-black hair had grown rather long and shaggy. He quickly dismissed the thought so he could prepare the woman for failure.

"Jordan, if he's not pure, then I'll try my very best anyway! I need him to replace me!"

Silence. Jordan was startled by the redhead's sudden outburst, but he understood. For himself, it had been ten years since someone showed up for him to train. His late master had warned him about this phenomenon, which prepared his mind and soul to continue working until the day he died.

"Quite the feisty one, aren't you? I've heard it's bad to get riled up at your age." Ugh. Jordan almost groaned aloud. He turned his head away from Carolyn just for a second before confirming who the voice belonged to.

"Get lost Lightning Bird! You're not allowed in here!" Jordan half yelled, half said. The blonde man in the doorway only smirked back. For just gaining the status of one of the Guard, he sure was a cocky son of a-

"You're not allowed in here either, Fire Phoenix. Last time I checked, this room belonged to her." He finished his sentence by casually pointing a finger at Carolyn. Her eyes narrowed.

"Leo, I invited him in here myself…" she said, trailing off.

"Oh yeah, and why's that? Is it because he's supposed to be the next successor of Arceus and you want to get on his good side?"

"SHUT UP!" Jordan snapped quickly, his voice echoing in the almost empty marble room. "None of that is true. And besides, she needed to know if who she saw was an authentic one of Chosen blood."

"And was he or she?"

"I cannot tell for myself, but I must admit there is some sort of odd connection I have to the boy that was shown. He feels like a comrade."

The blonde scowled. "Get yourself a haircut you rainbow-winged freak." And with that he silently slipped through the door and out into another chamber of the castle.

Carolyn looked curiously at Jordan. "What was that?"

"No clue. All I know is that guy's master was Ariana and he finally completed the ceremony to take her place," he responded. Yes, he did know more about the situation. No, he wasn't going to say another word.

"Ariana? She had the Chosen blood of Raikou, am I right?"

"You're close. Ariana and Leo both have the Chosen blood of Zapdos. From what I understand, Leo was only seven when she was taken away and he had to complete the rest of his training on his own."

Carolyn stared in shock, her bright gray eyes piercing Jordan's dark brown. "Seven? Then that means he was one of the children from _that year_ , wasn't he?!"

"Yes, he was. But I'm surprised you didn't know who Ariana's trainee was." Jordan sounded rather calm despite the weight of the words he was saying.

Carolyn looked back down at the dais. "Ariana was part of the Kanto region. Why would I personally know her or her apprentice?"

"Carolyn…"

"What?"

"I know that word makes you feel uncomfortable, but based on what we just saw, I think you'll have your own apprentice soon. Please don't be bitter," Jordan said in response.

"I am not bitter. I am just afraid this won't work out." The woman sighed sadly. "If this doesn't work for me, then how am I supposed to continue on? Any contact with the mortal world will change the energy in my blood to something harmful. You know that, don't you?"

Jordan's eyes darkened. "I am painfully aware of that fact, Carolyn. Just know that is the reason that I will not take any chances in retrieving him for you."

"You would do that for me?"

The black haired boy suddenly broke into a large grin and ditched the dark look in his eyes. "You just said you couldn't do it yourself, didn't you?" As the woman stood in shock, Jordan briskly walked out of the room and maneuvered his way through the castle. He knew the boy's name and appearance, as well as his home region.

He would find him and bring him back for this dying woman. Only Jordan knew that she would every bit of strength in these next few months and in her current state, that redheaded boy might as well be the only thing to keep her going. He would find him. The Guard needed Carolyn to defend itself, and after Ariana, Jordan was not sure they could lose yet another member.

As he moved in and out of people, Jordan found himself drawing closer and closer to his destination. It was larger than the glass dais from before, but it was fairly small to a large group of six or more. He knew the place wasn't even supposed to exist anymore, but he knew exactly where and what it was.

He couldn't help but grin while he was walking. The prospect at returning home was more than satisfactory, but the idea of actually being able to age somewhat was even better. But the best thing about going back to the other side was that he might just be able to find more than one who had the Chosen blood within them.

He would show those idiots like Leo that he didn't need to be considered anything more than one of the Guard to get his way. He was Chosen by Ho-Oh. Nothing more, nothing less. If anyone else was stupid enough to think he would be the next King…

It was just a ridiculous dream. After all, a King didn't necessarily have to be a man. What would make anyone think it was him that was favored above others? Jordan loathed the very notion.

He was not favored. He was not Chosen for greater purpose; his job was to find the ones that were.

* * *

 **Hi guys, guess who's back with a brand new SYOC! I kind of failed with my last one, so following different character and a new plot, I have this story! If you would like to submit an OC, the form and rules are on my profile.**

 **Let's see how this turns out-**

 **Shinymudkip25**


	2. Chapter 2: The Opening Proceedings

Footsteps. Almost silent footsteps, but they were there. Heard by the wild Vibrava and Skarmory, the appearance of the man did not go unnoticed.

"I'm here again," he muttered. "Not at all shocking that I'd come to Unova for this type of thing, but still…"

The red rock beneath the man's bare feet was rough and jagged, very fitting for the mountain itself. He looked to the east of him and could just make out the familiar formation of a city. The boy could be there, but he could also be someplace else.

 _But that's the pain of searching for something you want, I guess. I don't know where he is, but I assure you Carolyn, I will find him for you. I won't allow you die without leaving something behind first._

A breeze blew past, ruffling the man's dark hair. He was already feeling the effects of the different and new atmosphere, but he could adjust. He would adjust. This was a special, precious world, full of life that he could and would easily explore.

He exhaled deeply and sat down, staring at the horizon line. _This world has enough resources for any one person to live in it happily. But seeing through our eyes, this place just looks desolate. Maybe that's why…_

He clenched his fists.

 _Maybe that's why I was Chosen- to change all of that. Maybe I was Chosen to restore this world, not just protect it. Yeah, just keep telling yourself that. There's a point to all of this, and this life of mine is just beginning. After all, my story hasn't even begun yet. My legacy has yet to be created._

The man's eyes hardened as he gripped an almost invisible gold chain around his neck.

 _I will create this change. I swear it, Avalon._

* * *

"'In terms of diversity, the Unova region is the most diverse you can get. There are several Pokemon that primarily live in Unova, but a large majority of the wild population is made of creatures from the other large regions. At times, someone in Sinnoh will say they saw Moltres or something, but that's different. Unova's different.

Besides being diverse in the Pokemon side of things, Unova also happens to very diverse in terms of people. Humans from all different places will travel to the large region in order to, once again, see the grandeur in its diversity. There is a small section of Unova just south of Driftveil City that is home to a Pokemon World Tournament, where thousands of skilled trainers gather to compete.'"

The sound of a boy's voice filled the almost empty house. Apart from the boy reading and a small Zubat sitting on a nearby bookshelf, the only other person in the house was his older cousin who hardly made any noise at all. At the present, said older cousin was curled up on a small couch, trying desperately to fall asleep to the sound of the other reading a speech aloud.

"KANEN! Come here! I need your help!" came a shout from down the hall after a long pause.

"With what?" the older cousin asked. "I think you're doing fine, just keep reading."

"Liar! Come here!"

 _Yeah right,_ Kanen thought. _I'm perfectly fine right here. If you want my help, you'll have to come to me._ As if to emphasize his thoughts, the older of the two cousins adjusted himself so he was laying face down on his stomach and closed his eyes. The time seemed to be crawling along, but that might have been because of the literal lack of action. Kanen had only moved places twice in the past two hours and his head hurt.

"KANEN! Stop being such a Snorlax and get in here! I'm sure Elizabeth would be mad if you didn't help me!"

Elizabeth, huh?

 _Dear Arceus that boy can be annoying sometimes! How are we even related?_ But much to Kanen's dismay, his little blonde cousin was right. And manipulative. _Ross is being a little brat again, taking advantage of the fact that Isa's leaving today. How low can that child get?_

"I don't even know why you're trying so hard to memorize that stupid thing, Ross. It's annoying to be honest."

The younger of the two cousins poked his head out of room for a second just to shout back, "Well, at least I can do something! Unlike you and your nonexistent ambitions! For one thing, I'm actually trying to better my skills as a trainer by getting into an academy. What are you trying to do?"

"I don't know, sleep? Whatever really," Kanen replied.

"Except for anything that involves training your Pokemon. Your sister's going on a journey across the region, so why don't you?"

Kanen flinched. His eyes began to burn a little whenever anyone mentioned his sister. "I don't need to be lectured by a twelve-year-old child."

"Child?" Ross shouted from the inside of his room. "You're only a few years older than me Kanen, so get in here and help!"

With a small groan and a loud _thump_ , Kanen lazily rolled off the leather surface and onto a hard wood floor. There was little shock that registered in his brain, but part of that was that the boy was in a strange state. In fact, he had been all day now that he thought about it. Everything and everyone felt so distant to him, and his head wasn't faring too well. A dull headache had occupied his brain the whole morning, making it so each movement felt slow and every noise was painful. His chest had been tight too, and with every breath he took, it never felt like Kanen was getting enough air.

 _Am I coming down with something?_ Kanen wondered. It wasn't like he was sick to his stomach, more like he was sick in his head. There was some sort of need, some sort of void that needed to be filled. Something he needed to do. Whether Kanen was just tired or actually sick, he did not know.

Ross began his speech again in the other room, the Zubat flittering about the house. For a few seconds it actually hovered around Kanen, but then left shortly after to go observe the younger cousin again. Zubat sometimes favored Ross to the point where he didn't even seem like Kanen's own Pokemon anymore, which bugged the heck out of him.

With more effort than it seemed like it would take, Kanen managed to stand up and walk into the bedroom he shared with Ross, his feet aching every step of the way. "Hey Ross, what do you need me to do?" he asked, interrupting the boy who looked as though he was shouting to the wall.

Ross turned around, revealing his brown eyes and freckled face. That too angered Kanen, for his cousin looked more like his sister than he did. Both his older sister Elizabeth and younger cousin shared the family characteristics of golden hair and brown eyes whereas Kanen did not. Inheriting his mother's brown hair and blue eyes, Kanen looked nothing like any of the family he was living with.

"Why'd you interrupt me? I was in the middle of something!" Ross yelled angrily. Zubat flew off of a swinging perch and onto Kanen's shoulder, letting out a happy cry. "And now you steal my audience from me!"

Kanen took one of his fingers and gently stroked the Pokemon's forehead before replying. "Well, you did ask for my help. As I said before, what do you need?"

Ross's eyes filled with desperation. "Tell me if this sounds good enough to you, okay?" He took a deep breath before beginning his speech. "'In terms of diversity, the Unova region is the mo-"

"Stop, stop, stop!" Kanen yelled as he held out his hands. Zubat fluttered upwards for a few seconds and then returned to Kanen's shoulder when the boy was calm again. "I've heard you repeat that crap enough times!"

Ross rolled his eyes and sighed in frustration. "Kanen, I need you to actually listen to me. First off, this is a formal speech about my home region, so I need you to tell me if it sounds authentic."

"It would sound a heck of a lot more authentic if you didn't copy it from somewhere. I mean, it's pretty obvious you didn't write this." Zubat nodded vigorously to agree, but in reality, the Pokemon was just being adorable and appeared to have no opinion at all.

"What are you talking about? I spent weeks on this speech and I can assure you it's not copied!"

"Uh-huh. Well then, in that case it sounds great," Kanen said with a shrug. "Now continue telling me what else you need help with."

Ross glared. "You know what? You're not helping me, so get out of here!"

"But I thought I was," Kanen said, sounding puzzled. "I was giving you advice and such. Plus, this is my bedroom too…"

"Kanen, stop being such a smart aleck and help!"

"Sorry cousin, but I thought you told me to leave," Kanen stated plainly.

Ross groaned in frustration. "You're annoying."

"I didn't notice," Kanen responded sarcastically. "Anyway, now that I'm here, you might as well read it to me again."

"Really? You'll actually help me this time?"

"If I don't you'll just keep bugging me about it," Kanen muttered. Almost on pure habit, the brunette made his way over to a rolling chair, grabbed a hair tie, and began to put his long hair up. On any given moment on any given day, Kanen's hair would already be up, but there was nothing to do, no reason for it to be. It wasn't that the long hair style appealed to him, it was just convenience that Kanen didn't have to cut it as often. At present, it was just past shoulder length.

"Hey Kanen…"

"What is it?" the older cousin asked as he sat down with Zubat flying by his side.

"Do you think I'll actually get into the academy?"

"Uh…" Kanen paused for a moment. "I'm not sure why you're asking me, because I sure as heck don't know anything about the standards and stuff. Why do you ask? Are you just nervous that you won't?"

Ross sighed and shook his head. "No, just forget about it. I'm completely and totally confident about it."

 _If that's the case then you need to start acting more like it,_ Kanen thought. "Fine. Just keep going then."

Ross continued speaking, his voice growing fainter and fainter to Kanen with each passing minute. It was that feeling of a blank and empty pit in his chest that distracted him; it was getting stronger. It felt as though there was some place to be and something to do, but the boy had no clue what it was. The sensation was getting Kanen's skin crawling with goosebumps and inviting a strange chill to run down his spine.

"Kanen Knightly? You know him?"

Kanen flinched suddenly, startled by what he heard. It was definitely not Ross's voice he heard, but an older male one. The age was hard to guess, but the voice was still young.

But the part that scared Kanen the most was that Ross had taken no notice.

"Yeah, actually. He's my brother. Our father's name was Knightly, but as you can probably guess, I prefer to go by my mother's last name of Woodward."

That voice he recognized. It was Isa's, as clear as if she were standing right in front of him. Kanen almost gasped in happiness. His sister, Elizabeth or Isa, was supposed to leave that very day for an important journey across Unova, yet he still heard her voice.

 _Where is she?_

There was a long pause in the conversation before the first voice spoke up again. "Is there any chance I can meet him? You don't know how difficult this will be to explain if I bring back just his sister and not him."

 _Him? Who's him? Are they referring to me?_

"Kanen? Kanen?"

Ross's words snapped him out of whatever spell he found himself under. "Yeah? What?" Kanen asked.

The golden haired boy looked at his cousin expectantly. "I'm finished with my speech. Can you tell me how it was?"

A puzzled look spread over Kanen's face. "You finished? That wasn't a lot."

Ross narrowed his eyes and questioned, "So you weren't listening, were you? I should've guessed." Zubat flew over to Ross and settled down atop his head.

"I was listening!" Kanen retorted angrily. "You just kinda trailed off for a while and then stopped suddenly."

"Kanen, I didn't trail off nor did I stop suddenly. You just don't care enough to pay attention for once! Learn to know the difference!"

Kanen muttered to himself. "But I swear you did… And that voice! Didn't you hear Isa?"

"Elizabeth? I thought she was meeting in Village Bridge with her friends and my parents to discuss her travel plans," Ross said, although it came out as more of a skeptical question. "Why, did you hear her or something?"

Kanen nodded.

"Well, it's possible you might just miss her already. After all, besides me, Isa, and Zubat, you don't really have anyone to talk to," Ross chuckled. "That or I just sound like her."

Kanen turned away in frustration. The mention of his sister and just hearing her voice was making his eyes sting. "Just forget I said it then if you really don't believe me."

The younger cousin snickered. "Fine. I forget about it."

The brunette sighed as if to clear his head. "Okay, can you please read me your speech again then? You know, since I didn't care enough to listen to it the first time?" His voice dripped with sarcasm.

Ross shifted himself to stand up a little straighter and Zubat moved around in the makeshift nest known as Ross's hair. The boy took a deep breath. "'In terms of div-'"

"Ross? Kanen? Are you guys home?" Both boys heard the sound of a door closing. Ross stopped midsentence and glared at his notes.

"What? You mad that you got interrupted again?" Kanen asked. Ross did not reply and stood silently fuming at something.

"Kanen?" asked a female voice. "Where are you?"

"We're in here Isa!" Kanen shouted. He stood up quickly and rushed out to greet her, almost instantly falling into their awkward sibling hug.

"Hey Kane, how've you been?" she asked as they let go of each other. Kanen almost frowned but changed his mind. It would make him seemed upset she was back, but he was worried because she'd used his nickname. The only times she used that were if she wanted him to do something for her.

Kanen smiled instead. "It's been boring without you here today, but I've been doing fine."

"That's good to hear!" Isa was around the average height for her age- about five feet and seven inches- and shared the Knightly family traits just as Ross did. She was wearing a light red sweatshirt and some jeans as well as a pair of hiking boots, presumably for her journey. Her hair was even pulled back in a braid.

"Um, no need to sound rude Elizabeth, but why are you here? Weren't you leaving for good?" Ross had crept out of the center of his room and was standing with his back against the doorframe, his eyes cold. Zubat had seemingly vanished.

"Ross, we talked about this… And I just came back to say goodbye to the two of you," Isa said softly.

Ross scoffed. "Indeed we did talk. But I'm still not going. I have a future and so do you. There's no way I'm just gonna abandon my dreams and therefore my Pokemon!"

Isa sighed. "Ross, I already told you I gave up on that. I won't force anything on you."

Kanen stared at both of them. "Uh, what are you guys talking about?" He turned to his sister after pondering their words. "You're not asking him to leave on a journey with you, are you? He's younger than me, for Kyurem's sake!"

Isa turned to her brother. "That's not what I said Kanen."

"Then what did you say?" Ross interjected. He gestured toward his older cousin. "I mean, c'mon. You should tell him. After all, he has the right to know."

The golden haired girl stared down the golden haired boy. "So? You don't have to be condescending. You're only a child!"

"Uh-huh. Like you're not. You're not even twenty yet!"

To say Kanen was confused was an understatement. _Ross isn't acting like himself. He seems so much more agitated than usual._ The boy looked from one person to the other. Ross was tense and Isa was not collected. It was almost as if the entire universe had decided to reverse itself.

"Can someone please tell me what's going on and why Ross is being such a brat?" Kanen asked. He was surprised to hear the anger coming from his own voice. But then again, it had always been like that for him. If there was an argument and other people around him were angry, Kanen naturally felt himself become upset too.

Isa glared at Ross for a few more seconds before he finally looked away and stormed into his room, muttering something under his breath. The golden haired girl turned back to her brother.

"Sorry about that Kane, but Ross and I have had a recent falling out. We're both still pretty hostile towards each other, so that's all that was." Isa smiled.

Kanen looked at her skeptically. "Am I allowed to ask what this falling out was about?"

Isa stood, contemplating. "I guess I should tell you sooner or later. But before I do that, I have something to ask you."

 _I thought so,_ Kanen thought smugly. "What is it then?"

Isa walked over to the couch Kanen had been on minutes before and sat down. Kanen, getting the idea, followed and made himself comfortable.

"Even though you won't admit it, I know you're interested in mythology and Legendary Pokemon. And, well, it just so happens that one of my traveling companions is researching something along those lines. He's looking for special people to help him achieve his goal, and I was thinking you could come with me and work with him," Isa began.

"What exactly is he doing?" Kanen asked bluntly.

"What research you mean?"

"Yeah!" The boy could hardly contain his excitement.

The pit in Kanen's chest seemed to slowly vanish as his sister spoke. "Since not very many people have even seen a Legendary Pokemon and have proof, we're still not sure they legitimately exist. Now, my friend isn't looking for them exactly, but for some people that will-" She stopped midsentence when she saw her brother's eyes. Unlike what they had been earlier, he seemed excited and full of raw energy, his eyes brighter than they had been in years.

"Go on Isa. Tell me more!" Kanen begged.

Isa hesitated. "I-I can't. I'm not allowed to say any more than that." Her body was tense.

Kanen tilted his head to one side. "Why not? If I was to leave with you, I'd at least like to know what I'll be doing and who these friends of yours are!"

"They could probably tell you more about it than I can," Isa said with a shrug. "To be honest, I myself am not supposed to tell anyone about it. But those guys aren't sworn to secrecy."

"So what am I supposed to do about it? I want to know what you mean!"

"You could always come with me and find out yourself! My traveling companions and I are going to depart soon and begin the research, so it's quite possible that if you just showed up…"

Kanen frowned. "I get it, I get it. You can't tell me and they can. But if this is a ploy to get me to go on some stupid Pokemon journey with you, then you better forget about it."

"It's not!" Isa laughed. "You can trust me on that one."

"Alright," Kanen muttered, "I trust you. I'll go with you. It's just that our aunt and uncle have to say I can go and fill out all that paperwork. After all, I'm not over eighteen yet." His face fell but quickly brightened again as Zubat flew out from wherever he had been hiding. The bat Pokemon had no eyes to show expression, but by its erratic movements, it was easy to tell it was excited by its master's excitement.

Isa shook her head. "You don't even have to ask them about it. See, we discussed all of it at lunch today with my friend. They've signed the legal forms required to release you for travel, so you're absolutely free to do as you please."

"Seriously?!"

"No Kanen, I'm just joking. Of course I would get your hopes up about something like this and then tell you that you can't go."

Kanen grinned. "Yeah, you would do that, wouldn't you?" He wrapped his arms around his sister. "Thank you so much. Thank you so much!"

"Yeah, no problem." Isa moved herself away from Kanen. "I just hope it'll work out is all."

"Me too!" Kanen said with a even larger smile. "But wait- How did you get Marianne and Dominic to sign the forms? Those take months to even request, much less process!"

"Well…" Isa trailed off with a prideful smirk. "It's not like I could've assumed you wanted to go or anything."

"I swear to Arceus that you must have psychic powers or something!" Kanen laughed.

Elizabeth blinked rapidly a few times and chuckled along. "Yeah, that's me! Ms. Psychic or something!" she said with an awkward laugh.

Kanen studied her for a few seconds. _Something's off with her. And I know she's hiding something from me- she did that weird fast blink of hers. It's her tell._

As her odd laughter died down, she spoke again in a calmer fashion. "Anyways, Kanen, there are some others around your age too, so I was also thinking this would be a good opportunity for you to make some friends!"

The brunette's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, but as you continue, this whole spiel is sounding less and less appealing."

"What? C'mon, they're just there to participate in the research too! In fact, there's even a girl that comes from a city nearby!"

"And why's that's exciting again? Isa, I'm just interested in this research!"

"You have no idea what kind of research it is in the first place!" Isa smiled. "By the way, we're leaving tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?!" Kanen yelled in shock. His eyes dropped. "I thought you were leaving today!"

"Nope, tomorrow," his sister replied. "But don't worry Kane, you don't have to bring anything except yourself and Zubat." She brushed some flyaway strands of hair out of her eyes.

Kanen was silent.

"What's wrong? Are you upset about something?" Isa asked, her eyes narrowed in concern.

"It's nothing Isa. I'm fine." Kanen's eyes remained lowered as he stood up from the couch. "It's just a lot to take in is all. I mean, I thought you were leaving me for good." For the second time that day, Kanen felt on the verge of tears.

"Well, I'm not, so does that make you feel better?" she asked, picking up on his mental change of state.

Kanen shook his head, his long ponytail moving side to side as he did. "It's just that I… Well, I had to prepare for you leaving and I had to start figuring out how I would-" The boy's words were broken by a small sob.

Elizabeth quickly stood up and knelt down to get to match her brother's height. "Hey, it's okay. If you don't wanna keep talking about it, then you don't have to, okay?"

Kanen sniffled and whispered, "Okay."

"Just remember that we're going to start this awesome research regarding Legendary Pokemon tomorrow! It's going to be great!"

* * *

The middle of the day turned into a somber evening as the hours passed on. Ross barely spoke to either of his cousins and acknowledged their existence only when necessary. Even at the dinner table, when all of the family had gathered, the young blonde's dialogue was directed to his own older brother, Abel.

"So Kanen, I just heard the news that you'll be going with Elizabeth on her journey. Are you excited?" asked Abel about halfway through dinner. He was practically a twenty-four year old version of Ross, just "less bipolar" as Kanen called it. Kanen found him easy to talk to and generally thought of him as his older brother.

The brunette nodded. "Yeah, I guess. It's just surprising is all!" Both Kanen's Aunt Marianne and Uncle Dominic were out working, so it was just the four of them in the house. Ross sat silently fuming the entire time, something he had been doing quite often since Isa returned.

"Surprising?" Abel asked. "I would've said surprising if she left without you!"

Isa laughed to herself. "What, am I _that_ predictable? At least I don't want to take Kanen along on every single one of my trips to other regions!"

Abel mocked offense. "What are you talking about? That's only happened twice!"

"This year," Kanen quipped. Both Isa and Abel shared a laugh before Ross quickly excused himself and walked outside for a few minutes.

"I need some fresh air," Ross muttered as he walked out to the white sandy beach of Undella Town. The sun was slowly setting, casting an odd shadow from the mountains onto the town and surrounding routes.

"What's with him?" Kanen asked softly once Ross had left.

Abel shrugged. "No idea. He doesn't tell me things like that anymore, so I assumed you knew."

The room went quiet for a few minutes, the sounds of forks on plates and glasses being set back down the only noise that could be heard. Even Zubat was quiet, contently eating an Oran Berry mush of some kind up on his dining room perch.

"So, Abe, how have your travels been lately? Any jobs that catch your eye yet?" Isa asked suddenly. The two males in the room felt comfortable to be talking again and restarted the conversation quickly.

"To be honest, when I was in Kalos, there was this small newspaper in Lumiose City that was looking for international journalists. I filled out a resume, but I'm afraid there were some talented applicants that I have to go up against," Abel said with a sigh.

"I'm sure you'll get it! After all, you've plenty of experience!" Kanen said reassuringly. "I mean, you run that travel blog, and you've worked for the news people before!"

"News people?" Isa asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kanen glared at her teasingly. "Yeah, that's right! News people! What else can you call them?"

Abel started counting on his fingers. "Reporters, editors, journalists…"

"Okay, okay! I've got it!" The three laughed again before preparing to clear the table. Isa stood up and walked to her room.

"Hey Isa, where are you going? Aren't you going to help?" Kanen asked loud enough so his sister could hear.

From inside her room came a slightly muffled reply. "It's your turn to do it tonight Kanen! And good night both of you!"

"Good night Elizabeth!"

"Night Isa."

There was the creaky sound of her door shutting before the whole house went silent again. Almost mechanically, Kanen fell into the action of stacking dishes and the like. Zubat let out a little cry to let Kanen know it was done with its dinner.

It seemed however, as if the boy didn't hear his Pokemon for he just kept cleaning up. Abel instead walked over and took the small dish from the bat Pokemon.

"You really should be doing this yourself," he said to the blue bat. In response, Zubat playfully latched onto his index finger with his teeth. "Kanen, look at what your Pokemon's doing to me! He's like a little vampire!"

Kanen looked up from the table with distant eyes.

"Hey, Kane, what's wrong?"

 _Damn it! He knows something's wrong! What am I supposed to do now?_

"Oh, nothing," the boy replied.

Abel delicately pulled Zubat off his finger before walking back over to his cousin. "Kane, I'm sure you'll have a great time with your sister. Just write to me often, okay? I promise to keep in touch if that's what you're worried about!"

 _Oh thank Kyurem he didn't fully pick up on that!_ "We can really keep in touch?" Kanen asked, his voice filled with feign relief.

"Of course! Maybe you can talk to Ross when he's at the academy too. I'm sure he'd appreciate it," Abel began. "At least, I think he'd appreciate it."

"Well thanks for not forgetting that I'm still gonna be here even when they leave!" came an angry scowl from behind the two.

Abel exhaled slowly before putting on a face of stone and turning around to face his brother. "Why would I forget you're here? You are my brother after all!"

Ross made a _tch_ sound before replying angrily, "And they're our cousins. Would it kill you to know who's more important for once?"

"Ross, I never intended for you to feel left out. Here, why don't we go for a walk outside? You and I can talk," Abel said gently.

"What if I say no?"

His brother glared. "It wasn't really a yes or no type of request."

"Fine, fine," Ross muttered. "I'll go. Happy?" Ross stalked over to the doorway and waited for Abel to join him. Zubat fluttered around Ross for a minute before he tried to shoo it away. "Kanen, keep your bat under control!"

"Sorry." Kanen let out a low-pitched whistle that called the Pokemon away from his cousin.

And for what seemed like the millionth time that day, the house fell completely silent as soon as the brothers left. Kanen left the table half cleared and laid down on the couch, his head looking up at the textured ceiling. His eyes were immediately drawn to a cluster of ceiling bubbles that were shaped like a Zubat. There was also another one up there that was shaped like a Snivy more or less. And there was one over near the corner that looked like a-

"Do you think he's sulking?" asked a young male voice.

Kanen jumped upright and looked around for the source of the sound. He quickly found it back in the dining room, where a tan-skinned youth with spiky black hair and sea-green eyes sat. He looked older than Kanen and wore blue jeans and a blue and white striped vest. He also had a weird T-shirt on under the vest which changed from yellow to red the further down it went, almost like a sunset. On the table next to him sat a white sailor hat which had an anchor set in the middle and on his neck was an anchor pendant with a bright sapphire set in it.

Across the table from that one was another boy, but he looked even older. He had bright hazel eyes and short silver hair dyed blue at the tips. Wearing a dark gray hooded sweatshirt and a pair of sweats as well as a turtleneck shirt underneath, the boy looked a little out of place.

"Oh great. You startled him," said Silver Hair.

Kanen fell off the couch in pure shock. "Isa!" he screamed. "There are strangers in our house!" Kanen backed as far away from the dining room as possible and found himself in a corner between two leather chairs.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" the other said apologetically. Then came the loud _creak_ of Isa's bedroom door opening.

"Kanen, what's wrong?" she asked. Her hair had been taken out of its braid and she was in a longer style jacket that reached to about her knees.

Kanen tried to stand and get behind her, but his legs felt incapable of moving. "Isa, there are strange people in our house! In the dining room!"

Isa tensed and slowly walked out of the hallway. "Kane, where are you?"

"Elizabeth, is that you?" Silver Hair asked suddenly. His companion looked at him in an odd way but shrugged.

Isa stopped moving for a second. "Axel? I thought I recognized that voice! I didn't realize you'd be here!" She resumed moving but ran around the corner to the room instead of walking. There was no trace of fear in her anymore.

"Axel" stood up and embraced Elizabeth tightly. He was smiling. "It's been too long since I last saw you, Isa! How've you been?"

 _The hell? Did he just call her Isa? But only Abel and I call her that!_ The brunette scowled. _I don't like him._

"Not bad if we're being honest," Isa replied as the two broke apart. "But you seem to be doing pretty well yourself." She flicked her eyes in the direction of the black haired boy. "If you don't mind me asking, who's that?"

"My name's Trent. Trent Connors," said the boy. "Axel was told to bring me here so I could go back in a group. We lived in the same town as kids, so it wasn't like he was a total stranger."

"Oh, I see! So Axel, does that mean that he's your-"

"No, Trent isn't my successor. Fiona hasn't stepped down from her position yet nor have I mastered everything she has to teach me," Axel said calmly. "He's actually one of the ones from his region. Shame we don't see purebreds like him or your brother too often anymore. But you know, there have been rumors that there was another major purebred occurrence about twenty years ago that lasted for six years. So I guess Kane something-or-other falls into that time period quite nicely."

"What about me?" Kanen asked. He stood up on shaky legs and could hear his heart beating through his entire body.

Axel frowned. "So you didn't tell him? You're an awful older sister." He seemed to completely ignore Kanen's question and direct his thoughts toward Isa.

"I didn't wanna freak him out! Besides, I didn't know until just recently!" Isa countered, although Kanen did not know why.

 _Purebred. Successor. Those two words stand out the most in all of that. But what hasn't Isa told me? If this event is related to the trip and research we were planning on doing… Yeah, maybe this has something to do with that! This is about the research! It has to be!_

Axel gestured to Trent. "This kid here's known about it since he… Oops, never mind. His appearance reminds me too much of Lawrence! But anyway, I had another one with me. Where did she go off to anyway?"

"Are you talking about me?" A very dark-skinned girl came out from the kitchen and took a seat next to Trent. Her hair was dyed red and tied in a French braid, her eyes hazel. She had on a red shirt, a black leather jacket, black plants, a fire earring in her right ear. She looked excited to be there and despite the strange atmosphere in the room, she kicked her legs back and forth under the table. "Sorry, I was just having a look around this place. Unovian houses are so weird!"

Axel smirked. "Another lucky find for me. Rebecca here was actually the first one of these two I managed to pick up. She's just a year younger than you Isa!"

"Well then Rebecca, it's a pleasure to meet you. Even though we won't be working together or anything," Isa said with a smile.

"Axel said your name was Isa, right? It's short for something, isn't it?" Rebecca asked.

"Her name is Elizabeth!" Kanen interjected from the corner. When Rebecca gave him a curious look, he said, "I'm her brother!"

"So you're Kanen Knightly? You've changed so much since I saw your image three years ago." This time the new voice belonged to a young man, one that appeared to be a few years over twenty. And he was currently climbing through one of the living room windows right next to Kanen.

Kanen did not know if his heart began racing from the adrenaline associated with surprise, or if there was something else at work. He felt as though this man was a king or some important figure in authority. The aura surrounding his presence was overwhelming, making the sixteen year old boy standing in the corner seem even weaker than he appeared.

And this man somehow knew who he was.

"Hey, there he is! Never thought you'd be early to a meeting like this!" Axel commented.

"Oh shut up. You hardly know a thing about me," the man said with a familiar sounding voice. He looked slightly unshaven and had jet black hair that fell naturally to the left side of his face. From the distance Kanen and the man were at, the brunette boy could easily tell that this newcomer was wearing colored contacts to make his eyes brown.

 _Why would someone deliberately change their eye color?_ Kanen wondered. _And why do I feel so out of place all of a sudden?_

The man finished pulling himself through the window and carefully set one hand on the windowsill to help stand himself up. Kanen caught a glimpse of a golden chain necklace tucked under his shirt, which was a long-sleeved red and white one with zippers running down the arms. He wore a fluorescent yellow hoodie tied around his waist that sported several different shades of yellow in rectangular shapes, most of them being a golden color. The man also wore a pair of sweatpants, but most peculiar about his appearance was his lack of footwear or even socks.

A random thought occurred to Kanen, so he looked over at the other strangers in his dining room. Out of the three of them, Axel shared this man's trait of not wearing footwear.

As the man stood up, his eyes scanned the room. "Three… four… five. Only five of you are here? Man, I _am_ early!"

"There are more people coming?" Kanen groaned. Three- no- four strangers were enough! But there was something weird about this last one. Kanen's heart was racing at the very sight of this man.

 _Why do I feel like I should be bowing to him or something? And why does his voice sound familiar?_

The man chuckled. "Yeah, there are. They should be arriving anytime now." He ended in a smile.

 _Where do I know him from? It's driving me crazy just trying to think about it!_

"Geez, come over here already. Others might want to use that window too!" Axel said, indicating a seat across from Rebecca.

"Haven't you people ever heard in a front door?" Kanen muttered loudly enough for everyone to hear.

Trent frowned. "I'm afraid the words you just said aren't in my dictionary."

"Climbing through windows is that way that badass people do things," Axel said with a smile. Isa made a noise somewhat akin to a snicker at his comment, almost as if there was an inside joke that no one else was a part of.

As the black haired man walked away from the window, Kanen found himself inexplicably following.

"So he can move out of that corner after all!" Axel remarked.

"Knock it off," Rebecca complained, "you're being mean."

Instead of sitting down, the man leaned himself against a wall and crossed his legs, the right in front of the left. "So, it's good to see that at least you made it here Axel. You were the one I was most concerned about."

"What's that supposed to mean? I mean, come on! Lucala was in charge of a group!"

The man nodded. "Uh-huh. And I trust him more than I do you for these kinds of things. Maybe it's because I know him better than I know you."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but who the heck are you? You seem super familiar, but I have no idea where I would've seen you! Are you like a government official or something?" Kanen asked. He had been quiet in most of his thoughts for the past few minutes, but he could no longer take it.

Axel started laughing. "Government official? This guy?" He doubled over as he gestured to the man.

The man rolled his eyes at Axel and then looked back to Kanen. "Close, I guess. But I'll explain that later. From now on, you know me as Jordan Turner, just a Pokemon researcher with hopes that you'll help me."

* * *

 **OCs in this chapter:**

 **Axel Travis- Palkiawing87**

 **Trent Connors- Kecleon352**

 **Rebecca Law- Phantomwriter**

 **Mentioned:**

 **Lucala Letele- cometshadow**

* * *

 **Hello everyone! Now I know this is a little late (very late) of an update, but I've actually been out of country for the past several weeks and needed some time to finish overcoming a minor case of writer's block. And by the way, I changed the name of the story because I liked it better. Nothing more, nothing less. Well, my own title sounded unoriginal anyway.**

 **Anyways, I've made some small changes to the OC form. Most of them are for new submitters, but one is very important to you guys. I'll just sum it all up the best I can. Firstly- I would appreciate it if everyone who has submitted and OC take the Meyers-Briggs four letter personality test as their character and let me know the result. Why? This will help me write your character interactions a little bit better than if I didn't have that.**

 **Secondly- I have almost completely filled my main group the story will be centered on. I will send a PM to everyone whose character is in this group just to let you know about it. If you get one of those PMs from me, then I'm kind of requiring you to take that personality test. And to everyone who has and will submit an OC, no hard feelings, okay? They'll all show up at some point or another!**

 **Thirdly- this part is not on my OC form, but there will be an update to all OCs in a few chapters that needs to be completed regarding outfit, hair and eye color. Don't worry about it too much, but don't be surprised when I ask for it. Just warning all of ya!**

 **And finally, thank you to the three people that reviewed (The Bloody Seje, cometshadow, and Palkiawing87), all the people that submitted OCs and all the follows and favorites! It means a lot!**


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